Why does voting take so long?

[Jockaroo]

Wow. I can´t help but wonder how well educated people are about the choices they´re making when there are so many. Do people really have the time to do the research needed to know what each person stands for, all at one time?

Do they have the time? They SHOULD make the time; it is very important. Do they? Probably not.

 

[RadioNate]

Wow. I can´t help but wonder how well educated people are about the choices they´re making when there are so many. Do people really have the time to do the research needed to know what each person stands for, all at one time?

no - and I admit to being clueless on at least one of the races I voted in (Soil and Water Supervisor comes to mind). I did have a list of who (state senators, public leaders etc) was supporting who and what issue so that helped but in truth I wasn't educated about it.

I posted on the other thread about Obama's voting time. For giggles I pulled up the sample ballot for Obama's area in Chicago. (I used a friend's Hyde Park address to create the ballot on the Chicago Tribune's website) Including uncontested judges there were 98 things to vote for. As someone else pointed out on that thread, Illinois doesn't allow straight party ticket voting so he would have had to vote for each of those races individually.

ETA - I just talked to my mom....the friends address I use does vote at the same school that Obama voted at so the ballot would be the same. There was also 16 PAGES of judges alone on that ballot.

 

[Cindy B]

Wow. I can´t help but wonder how well educated people are about the choices they´re making when there are so many. Do people really have the time to do the research needed to know what each person stands for, all at one time?

Yes, there is time if someone is willing to research the issues or find the candidates website. Sometimes the ballots come in the mail so you can look at the actual size of the ballot and all the voters instructions were on it.

Even though there are more than one race going on, (presidential, senate, county freeholders, and two referendum questions) you can only select just the presidential and hit submit.

This was our first year of electronic voting. It was very easy and quick. I was there by 7 am and out by 7 05.

 

[cheerful chickadee]

It's so odd that there are different voting procedures in each state/city, etc. you'd think there would be one universal way especially after the hanging chad debacle. Here we have the booths with the curtain. You go in to your polling place, sign your name, go into the booth, close the curtain, flick down the levers for whomever you're voting for, use the lever to open the booth and boom you're done. When you use the door lever it marks your ballot and resets all the levers to their neutral position.

 

[disykat]

So many more people vote in a presidential election than in other elections, the numbers can be overwhelming. I'd venture to guess that quite a few people show up and are totally surprised by the other things on the ballot.

 

[Jockaroo]

Also, Jockaroo - what state do you live in? In Illinois the Labor, Ag and Commerce spots are appointed by the Governor....very interesting that you elect them. Good choice because those seem to be the agencies that seem to get the most press and NOT in a good way.

I'm in North Carolina and things have been outright nasty and brutal in so many of our elections. I just want this whole thing over and let this country and state move forward. Yes, regardless of who wins what--let's move FORWARD. Put on the big girl panties and accept what the people say and move FORWARD.

 

[daisax]

Something else that slows it down are ballot initiatives or amendments or other laws that you are voting on, especially since they are often worded in a way that makes remembering yes/no difficult. For example, sometimes, based on the languarge, a yes vote will STOP something. I always second guess myself and reread those carefully!

 

[Carly_Roach]

I pull a sample ballot off the internet before-hand and either remember my choices or write them down. That way I'm not flummoxed like others who didn't have a clue there was more than the Presidential Election on this ballot.

 

[cats7494]

I had to vote for the following today:
President
Senate
Congress
State Senate
State Congress
State Sec of Agriculture
Sheriff
Area Supervisor
15 judge positions
County Supervisor
State Constitution amendment

 

[lulu71]

We have a three minute time limit here.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I never understood what takes so long to vote either, until I read how many things some people have on one ballot We always get a sample ballot in the mail so we know what we are in for and I wouldn't vote if I didn't know who/what I was voting for.

The longest part is reading those state/local questions I wonder who gets paid to write them and if they get paid by the word.

I was in the booth for about 1 minute, the guy next to me was in their for at least 5 minutes - I have no idea what he was doing in there

 

[mefordis]

Why does the voting process in the US seem so complicated and take so long?
I´m just curious.
When I vote here, I just show my ID, put an X by the right candidates name and off I go. I usually wait in line for 5-10 minutes if I come at a busy time but the voting doesn´t take more than 20 seconds.

Actually, my voting experience was fast. Walked in, there was no line, gave my name, went to the booth and voted! I live in NJ. It could have taken 20 seconds but I chatted with the people working the polls.

 

[lovetoscrap]

At my polling place checking in is what takes the longest. We had about 20 booths to vote in (black felt tip fill in the bubble) and only 3 races. Only a few were in use when I went in, but there were lines to check in. DH had to wait for over an hour in the rain when he went before work, and there have been lines most of the day, I got there during a lull.

But we have to go in and get in line by the first letter of our last name: A-D, E-K, L-R, S-Z . Fortunately my line only had about 5 people in it. But we have to go up one at a time, show our ID, wait for them to look through the book to find us. They we had to state our full name and address, she reapeated it back and they recorded a voting number. Then we get the ballot and go to the booth to mark our ballot and then take it and deposit it in the vote counter thing.

I have had roughly this same procedure in all the places that I have lived, and the nice people working the polls are usually elderly so they don't move too fast when looking up the names. I think that is part of what really holds things up. And only having one book for each section of names really slows things down. I don't know if they don't have enough poll workers or what. The line for the S-Z was really long when I was there, wrapping around the room and almost out the door. But A-D had no one in line and was just hanging out.

I would love to volunteer to work at the polls but the kids are out of school that day so I have to wait until they get older.

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

Why does the voting process in the US seem so complicated and take so long?
I´m just curious.
When I vote here, I just show my ID, put an X by the right candidates name and off I go. I usually wait in line for 5-10 minutes if I come at a busy time but the voting doesn´t take more than 20 seconds.

that is all I had to do today! Took me only 4 minutes though. we have a very cool computer, just touch the screen and all done.

 

[NMAmy]

I pull the sample ballot early and make my decisions then but even with that, it takes awhile just to go through everything and make sure I've done it correctly. Ours was one long page (bigger than legal sized paper) front and back.

Things I voted on (directly from my sample ballot):

President
Senator
Representative
State Rep
State Board of Education
U of M Regents
Michigan State Univ Trustees
Prosecuting Attorney
Sheriff
County Clerk
County Treasurer
Register of Deeds
Drain Commissioner
County Commissioner
Township Supervisor
Township Clerk
Township Treasurer
Township Trustee
Park Commissioner
Justice of Supreme Court
Justice of Court of Appeals
Judge of Circuit Court
Judge of Probate Court
Judge of District Court
Two state proposals
One county proposal
One township proposal
One millage proposal

So, yeah, it took me a longer than 5 minutes even knowing what I was going to vote in advance.

 

[CowboyCO]

Why does the voting process in the US seem so complicated and take so long?
I´m just curious.
When I vote here, I just show my ID, put an X by the right candidates name and off I go. I usually wait in line for 5-10 minutes if I come at a busy time but the voting doesn´t take more than 20 seconds.

I voted this morning. There was about a 20 minute wait to get my ballot. On my ballot, there were votes for

President

Senate

Congress

State Congress

State Senate

County Commissioner (2 seats)

retention polls of about 10 Judges & Justices (individually)

12 Amendment proposals to create statutes or alter the state constitution

3 referendums

Even with my cheat sheet , it took about 10 minutes to complete the ballot.

 

[Freyja]

Thanks everyone. This is really interesting

 

[pixie dust 112]

Wow. I can´t help but wonder how well educated people are about the choices they´re making when there are so many. Do people really have the time to do the research needed to know what each person stands for, all at one time?

I think there is plenty of time to do the research as we know who the candidates are far in advance of the actual election. We had several elective offices to vote for here, as well as 1 proposition. THere was no line at all at my polling place. I was signed in voted and back in my car driving home in less than 5 minutes.